Every organization must develop contingency plans in case of an emergency or service interruption.
Strategic resilience planning that centers on the consequences of a crisis adopts a risk-focused perspective, therefore integrating risk assessment directly into organizational decision-making processes.
Instead of evaluating potential risks based solely on the likelihood of an emergency situation, this approach places the primary emphasis on the severity of the consequences or impact of the risk, whether on daily operations, regular services or key stakeholders. The point here is that emergencies will occur, and resilience in such circumstances is essential.
Organizations should prioritize assets based on their mission and condition, ensuring the most critical assets or services are restored quickly. Imagine a disaster that impacts on every physical asset in a facility at the same time. Where do you start from, and which asset is most critical? The answer should be based on the consequences of the failure, as well as the impact on the facility or service.
By focusing on the gravity of possible outcomes, facility managers can ensure that their organizations are better equipped to prioritize resources, address and mitigate threats. As a result, their strategies closely align with long-term objectives.
Through this approach, facility managers and their organizations can effectively safeguard their most critical functions and support continuity, even in the face of significant challenges. Identifying assets that must remain online and functional enables them to mitigate the extent of the damage from a crisis.
Contingency planning to support resilience goals often involves creating backup systems, emergency response, and financial reserves to minimize downtime and risks. Unlike public infrastructure, private facilities rely on self-managed budgets, insurance, credit lines or investor capital rather than on government grants.
This funding acts as a safety net to maintain operations during disruptions, including natural disasters and economic downturns. As a guide, 5-20 percent of the total budget should be set aside for unforeseen expenses.
Robust contingency planning involves establishing protocols that allow facilities to either maintain services during serious crises and disasters or to recover those services in a short period if interruptions occur. This approach ensures the barest minimum of disruptions and effects. Unfortunately, not all service providers demonstrate strong contingency planning.
Decisions made by facility managers about optimizing asset resilience should have accurate data to support and assist in the development of those plans. Accurate and unbiased condition reporting ensures plans are well-founded and defensible should they require funding to implement them.
Facility managers are often advised to have an internal or third-party conduct a facilities condition assessment (FCA), which can reveal potential problems, clarify the severity of such problems and provide a reasonable estimate of replacement costs.
They assist managers in prioritizing investments based on criticality and the condition of the asset. Furthermore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) may be an appropriate tool for assets that are not as critical to the organizational mission.
LCA uses a systematic methodology to evaluate the costs to operate an asset throughout its entire life cycle, from installation to end-of-life disposal or recycling. In the end, these tools supply managers with data to support capital planning and reduce downtime. It evaluates risks across infrastructure, operations and long-term planning.
By being proactive, facility managers can prepare actionable plans to mitigate the consequences of an emergency, as well as to restore assets or services to operate efficiently and effectively, especially for mission-critical facilities such as hospitals or data centres.
Infrastructure Maintenance with Tunde Obileye
